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Tokariev M, Vuontela V, Perkola J, Lönnberg P, Lano A, Andersson S, Metsäranta M, Carlson S. A protocol for the analysis of DTI data collected from young children. MethodsX 2020; 7:100878. [PMID: 32382519 PMCID: PMC7200313 DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2020.100878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Software packages were applied to mitigate the effects of artifacts and to produce robust tensor estimation. Opposite phase-encoding directions were used in DTI acquisition to improve correction for EPI distortions. Advanced tensor-based registration of DTI images was obtained using a population-specific template.
Analysis of scalar maps obtained by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) produce valuable information about the microstructure of the brain white matter. The DTI scanning of child populations, compared with adult groups, requires specifically designed data acquisition protocols that take into consideration the trade-off between the scanning time, diffusion strength, number of diffusion directions, and the applied analysis techniques. Furthermore, inadequate normalization of DTI images and non-robust tensor reconstruction have profound effects on data analyses and may produce biased statistical results. Here, we present an acquisition sequence that was specifically designed for pediatric populations, and describe the analysis steps of the DTI data collected from extremely preterm-born young school-aged children and their age- and gender-matched controls. The protocol utilizes multiple software packages to address the effects of artifacts and to produce robust tensor estimation. The computation of a population-specific template and the nonlinear registration of tensorial images with this template were implemented to improve alignment of brain images from the children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maksym Tokariev
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland.,Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Virve Vuontela
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland.,Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jaana Perkola
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Piia Lönnberg
- Department of Child Neurology, Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Aulikki Lano
- Department of Child Neurology, Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sture Andersson
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Marjo Metsäranta
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Synnöve Carlson
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland.,Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Advanced Magnetic Imaging Centre, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland
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Ruotsalainen I, Gorbach T, Perkola J, Renvall V, Syväoja HJ, Tammelin TH, Karvanen J, Parviainen T. Physical activity, aerobic fitness, and brain white matter: Their role for executive functions in adolescence. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 42:100765. [PMID: 32072938 PMCID: PMC7013351 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Revised: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Aerobic fitness level, but not physical activity, is related to white matter properties in the brain. The relation between physical activity and working memory is moderated by fractional anisotropy (FA) of the corpus callosum. The FA of the corpus callosum and superior corona radiata moderates the relation between aerobic fitness and working memory.
Physical activity and exercise beneficially link to brain properties and cognitive functions in older adults, but the findings concerning adolescents remain tentative. During adolescence, the brain undergoes significant changes, which are especially pronounced in white matter. Studies provide contradictory evidence regarding the influence of physical activity or aerobic-exercise on executive functions in youth. Little is also known about the link between both fitness and physical activity with the brain’s white matter during puberty. We investigated the connection between aerobic fitness and physical activity with the white matter in 59 adolescents. We further determined whether white matter interacts with the connection of fitness or physical activity with core executive functions. Our results show that only the level of aerobic fitness, but not of physical activity relates to white matter. Furthermore, the white matter of the corpus callosum and the right superior corona radiata moderates the links of aerobic fitness and physical activity with working memory. Our results suggest that aerobic fitness and physical activity have an unequal contribution to the white matter properties in adolescents. We propose that the differences in white matter properties could underlie the variations in the relationship between either physical activity or aerobic fitness with working memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilona Ruotsalainen
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
| | - Tetiana Gorbach
- Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Jaana Perkola
- Clinical Neurophysiology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Finland
| | - Ville Renvall
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland; AMI Centre, Aalto NeuroImaging, School of Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
| | - Heidi J Syväoja
- LIKES Research Centre for Physical Activity and Health, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Tuija H Tammelin
- LIKES Research Centre for Physical Activity and Health, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Juha Karvanen
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Tiina Parviainen
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
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Tokariev M, Vuontela V, Lönnberg P, Lano A, Perkola J, Wolford E, Andersson S, Metsäranta M, Carlson S. Altered working memory-related brain responses and white matter microstructure in extremely preterm-born children at school age. Brain Cogn 2019; 136:103615. [PMID: 31563082 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2019.103615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2019] [Revised: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 09/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Preterm birth poses a risk for neurocognitive and behavioral development. Preterm children, who have not been diagnosed with neurological or cognitive deficits, enter normal schools and are expected to succeed as their term-born peers. Here we tested the hypotheses that despite an uneventful development after preterm birth, these children might exhibit subtle abnormalities in brain function and white-matter microstructure at school-age. We recruited 7.5-year-old children born extremely prematurely (<28 weeks' gestation), and age- and gender-matched term-born controls (≥37 weeks' gestation). We applied fMRI during working-memory (WM) tasks, and investigated white-matter microstructure with diffusion tensor imaging. Compared with controls, preterm-born children performed WM tasks less accurately, had reduced activation in several right prefrontal areas, and weaker deactivation of right temporal lobe areas. The weaker prefrontal activation correlated with poorer WM performance. Preterm-born children had higher fractional anisotropy (FA) and lower diffusivity than controls in several white-matter areas, and in the posterior cerebellum, the higher FA associated with poorer visuospatial test scores. In controls, higher FA and lower diffusivity correlated with faster WM performance. Together these findings demonstrate weaker WM-related brain activations and altered white matter microstructure in children born extremely preterm, who had normal global cognitive ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maksym Tokariev
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland; Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Virve Vuontela
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland; Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Piia Lönnberg
- Department of Child Neurology, Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Aulikki Lano
- Department of Child Neurology, Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jaana Perkola
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Elina Wolford
- Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sture Andersson
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Marjo Metsäranta
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Synnöve Carlson
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland; Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Advanced Magnetic Imaging Centre, Aalto University School of Science, Espoo, Finland.
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